


At 2AM, A Conversation

by peaches2217



Category: Kung Fu Panda (Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, immortality AU, it's not actually all that shippy, some very light TiPo all things considered
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 02:01:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16944852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peaches2217/pseuds/peaches2217
Summary: The nightmare happened again. It'll be reality soon. Po doesn't want to live forever.





	At 2AM, A Conversation

**Author's Note:**

> Is... is the Immortality AU still a thing? It was pretty popular on Tumblr after the third movie came out and I wrote a few fics for it.
> 
> In case I'm making myself look like an idiot, it's based on the idea that, since Po had to die to fight Kai in the Spirit Realm but was able to come back, he's functionally immortal. So I present to you a little bit of angst regarding that subplot.
> 
> (This was originally written around April 2017 and posted to Tumblr.)

With a gasp, Po’s eyes fly open.

He’s vaguely aware of the cold sweat drenching his body, his fur standing on end, the suffocating darkness of the moonless, starless night. None of it matters anyway.

“Tigress?” he croaks. “Are you awake?”

Blindly, his paws reach out and feel at the opposite side of the bed. Beneath his touch he feels the mound of thick blankets. A hum makes his ear twitch.

“Sorry to wake you up…” He chuckles nervously, drawing his arms back into himself. “I just, uh… Nightmare. Y’know.”

She doesn’t respond. She’s listening.

It can’t be past two or three in the morning. They’ve had all manners of conversation at such a time, but he still finds himself eager not to bother her too much. After all, this is a nightmare he’s had numerous times. She’s probably sick of hearing about it by now.

“It… It wasn’t you this time. Not really. It was Viper.” Already a lump is forming in his throat. He has to talk about it. That doesn’t really mean he _wants_ to, though. “But— but she wasn’t the first one. She was, um, she was actually one of the last. After her it— it was just…”

Tigress doesn’t move. She knows what he’s about to say. She understands how much this weighs down on his heart.

Tears are forming now.

“And I looked over at you and I realized, you were the only one left… I didn’t know how much time I had left with you but it— it probably wouldn’t… Wouldn’t be…” The first tear escapes, trickling down his cheek.

He’s going to live forever.

 _Or maybe not,_ he's tried to tell himself over and over. Maybe he's not immortal. Maybe he's just in an Oogway-type situation, where he's not  _immortal_ immortal, he's just gonna live for a lot longer than he's supposed to. Somewhere between five- and ten-hundred years. Long enough to see everyone he loves grow old, pass on, long enough to form new bonds, then watch _them_ grow old, pass on, ad infinitum. Something he is not looking forward to in the least.

But he has no choice but to accept it.

“Tigress, I know— I know I’ll have to lose you someday…” He squeezes his eyes shut as if that would block the tears, make his cruel reality nothing more than a bad dream. Instead, more of the stinging droplets escapes, and vivid pictures of loneliness and isolation appear as if painted on the backs of his eyelids. “I just don’t want it to be someday  _soon_.”

Quietly, Po begins to weep, willing the haunting images away.

This is a reality he has come to accept. One day, he’ll have to face it. But for now he’s here. For now, his friends are alive, the one he loves more than anyone by his side. He wants nothing more than to scoop her up, wrap his arms around her in a crushing embrace, savor her warmth and her presence, but he holds himself back. There will be time.

There will be time.

His eyes are sore and puffy now, but he feels a little bit better.

“Hey, Ti? I was thinking…” His speech becomes slurred as exhaustion washes over him, at long last offering to pull him into a dreamless slumber. “Maybe we can cancel class tomorrow. I wanna… I wanna go on’a… A walk ‘er… Somethin’...”

Gingerly, he reaches out once more to the mound of covers in front of him, lightly tracing his fingertips over where her arm should probably be. “Jus’if’ya wanna…”

His head sinks heavily into the pillow. Darkness of a more comforting sort, a much richer black, tempts him. He gladly takes the offer.

“Love ya.”

Tigress doesn’t give a reply.

She left centuries ago.


End file.
